Jeep Renegade plug-in hybrid
The first plug-in hybrid Jeep is a Renegade with an electric rear axle. It’s niche, but nice
First car in the ample FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) empire of brands in Europe to go plug-in hybrid? That’d be the Jeep Renegade, in defiance of Jeep’s reputation of being a bit analogue and low-tech. The 4xe (pronounced ‘four by E’) powers its rear wheels with a 59bhp electric motor and its fronts with a 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine aided by a smaller e-motor which also acts as a generator. In the hardy Trailhawk spec tested here, the combined output of 237bhp makes the 4xe the most powerful all-wheeldrive system ever fitted to a Renegade.
One that’s genuinely capable off-road, too. Even if the battery were to run flat while tackling ruts and rocks, the engine stokes the generator fires to keep the rear axle in play at all times. This test took place exclusively on more mundane tarmac roads, however, where the Renegade is adequate rather than outstanding.
The flat windscreen, rectangular mirrors and featherlight steering make you feel a bit like you’re driving a van, and handling is in a similar vein – grippy but not exactly precise. With all that power on tap the 4xe can definitely get a move on, though.
In cold weather the engine starts up quickly after moving off, and the 4xe didn’t spend a particularly long time without the front wheels in play, even in urban streets. When it does make the switch between motor, engine or both combined, it does so smoothly and relatively unobtrusively, although the six-speed auto transmission (rather than the nine-speed other Renegades get) can be a touch jerky on pullaway.
Boot space isn’t much smaller than you get in non-hybrid Renegades, partly because the battery pack is in the transmission tunnel and under the rear seats. In fact, the Trailhawk’s spare wheel under the boot floor is a more obvious impinger on luggage space than the hybrid control module and motor below.
Worth the extra few grand over a regular petrol version? If you’re likely to do most of your driving on EV-friendly routes, other cars can fulfil the role better. The 4xe is perhaps more useful for offsetting Jeep’s fleet average CO2 than for most real-life applications. But that doesn’t make it a bad car.